War and Worldview

Many of my Western colleagues and friends try to understand the phenomenon of Russia (or the “Russian Soul”) primarily through the prism of Eastern Orthodoxy. This approach, I believe, is basically wrong. It is a kind of intellectual trap which is rooted in different ideological constructions (such as Holy Russia or Moscow as the Third Rome concepts) and the images of Russian art (such as masterpieces by Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky).

However, the key to understanding the “Russian Soul” is not Orthodoxy… but paganism.
The point is that the dark aspects of this pagan worldview very often have determined the behavior of the Russian people during the ages and continue to do so today.

How does this influence express itself? Here are three demonstrative examples:

1. Worshiping Political Power and Violence

Worshiping political power and violence is the cornerstone of the social life in Russia, where the people have always deified their political rulers. The choice between Christ and Caesar has always been a sharp issue for that culture.

In spite of resistance from true Christians and secular descendants, the choice of the majority remains unaltered: Caesar is god, while Christ is merely a kind of attribute, a figure of speech.

The Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, who lived in Saint Petersburg and was exiled to the Kazakh steppes, described this tendency in his poem The Neophytes (1857) — drawing a parallel between 19th-century Russia and pagan Rome:

And so to all the governors they wrote
Throughout the empire: As an oat’s an oat,
Caesar’s a god, more than a god is he.
And so they hired a sculptor for a fee,
To cast this god in bronze; ’mid orders many,
They added as a sort of nota bene
That this bronze Caesar, in response to prayer,
Would grant requests.

Furthermore, Shevchenko sharply criticized this perverse reality using the terms of Christian theology:

But woe to you! Whom do you now entreat?
You bring your tears, but to what creature’s feet?
You bring your hopes, but woe to you blind slaves!
Is he, O humble ones, a god that saves?
Can marble grant you mercy? Pray alone
To God and Truth! Deaf are the ears of stone.
Bow down to none but God, whom Heaven adores!
All else are false, both priests and emperors!
(Translated by C. H. Andrusyshen and W. Kirkconnell)

2. Compromise with Evil

Another expression of the pagan worldview is the belief that evil is necessary. In this mindset:

Evil is complementary to the good.
Evil accomplishes useful work in the universe. No one can avoid it.

This view directly contradicts Scripture:

“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

People influenced by this worldview justify war, terror, or genocide as necessary steps. Common sayings illustrate this:

“Nothing is clear.”
“Nobody is innocent.”
“I was only following orders.”
“You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.”

Those Russians who support the aggression against Ukraine recognize that it is evil — but in their universe, this evil is necessary and justified.

3. Opportunistic Morality

The third component of this pagan worldview is opportunistic morality — the belief that:

Everything which is utilitarian for me is correct.
Utility and profit determine every step.

Examples from the Soviet past reinforce this:

• False denunciations of neighbors
• Moving into apartments of “enemies of the people”
• Anonymous letters to the KGB from average citizens

The horrifying details of this everyday hell were described by Ukrainian prisoners and decedents: Ivan Bahrianyi, Vasyl Stus, Ivan Svitlychny, and others.

Today, many Russian soldiers continue this legacy, bombing Ukrainian cities simply to repay loans or gain trophies for their dachas.

Conclusion: The Return of Paganism

Instead of a Russian Orthodox Renaissance over the last 30 years, we are witnessing the strengthening of archaic paganism — in its worst manifestations.
(One must not forget about the decent people of ancient Greece and Rome.)

What we now see is:

• A “symphony” of Church and State
• Servility before sponsors and oligarchs
• Substitution of the Gospel by the ideology of the “Russian world”

All this has led to “the real abomination of desolation.”

Ukrainian Christians must take a lesson from this clash.
Similar temptations — to serve the State or an attractive ideology — might arise after the war.